After impressing the audience of the young cuisine festival Omnivore with smoked sour cream in 2013, in July of this year Anton went on tour to Italy. As one of the ambassadors of Russia Expo at the World Universal Exhibition held in Milan under the motto “Feeding the planet. Energy for Life”, Anton participated in the Cooking show on the Italian channel RAI 3TV and fed the visitors of the Russian pavilion with buckwheat porridge with Crimean truffle on kvass. Immediately upon his return, SNC spoke with a young ambitious chef, who just moved from Nizhny Novgorod just a couple of years ago, about EXPO, about the best restaurant in the world El Celler de Can Roca, about working in Moscow and the Moscow restaurant scene, about the partnership between the restaurateur and the chef and plans for the future. And they are obviously big for Anton.

SNC: How is Milan?

Anton: I can't say how Milan is. I can tell like EXPO. It is striking in scope - I have never been to events of this magnitude. EXPO is not only and not so much about food, but rather about culture, about where we are going. It's like it says everywhere in big print: "People, pay attention to what is happening to this world." Naturally, I judge by several pavilions - by those for which there was enough time.

SNC: For what?

Anton: In Brazilian, for example, it's very cool. You feel like a child. Israel... They've got a horizontal wall, and cereals grow from there. The only thing I still don't understand is how to assemble them.

SNC: They're Israelis, they'll figure it out!

Anton: They will hire someone. And, of course, the Russian pavilion. The scale is amazing. There is a permitted building height EXPO - and the peak point of our pavilion is exactly this height. And in general, I was impressed by the concept, an attempt to comprehend the agrarian heritage of the country. And, of course, it was not without fun. I talked to the guys who work in the Russian pavilion, they say that visitors are stealing black soil.

SNC: It's like stealing manure from a nearby farm! What for?

Anton: It is absolutely incomprehensible for what purpose people take black soil, it is absolutely incomprehensible for what purpose people take away dry cereals, as if they had never seen them. It is impossible, inedible, but they still take it. Well, since they steal, probably, someone needs it.

SNC: It wouldn't have crossed my mind.

Anton: Probably, only the Russians would not have thought to take the black soil. What else can you bring from Milan?

SNC: What does it mean to you to be an ambassador?

Anton: This is a great opportunity. First of all, the opportunity to share ideas, the privilege to talk about what we are doing in Russia now, what it actually is - a new wave of Russian cuisine. Many people - primarily outside the Garden Ring - do not know about it.

SNC: How was the process of selecting ambassadors? It is not clear what the organizers were guided by - there are big questions about half of the list.

Anton: I don't know. Most interesting. I was simply put in front of this pleasant fact. I had to bring one dish and perform it at the Cooking show on one of the central Italian channels. How it happens: an Italian chef and the chief ambassador of one of the countries participating in the exhibition meet. They turned out to be me and Davide Scabin (One of the most famous Italian chefs; the Combal Zero restaurant under the direction of Scabin received two Michelin stars. - Approx. ed.). Each of us just prepared our own dish - this is not a competition, this is an exchange of ideas, experience, thoughts. I was simply dumbfounded by the honor of performing with him.

SNC: Of the Russian chefs, many know the maximum of Anatoly Komm. Now also Vladimir Mukhina (Chef of the White Rabbit restaurant, which this year took 23rd place in the prestigious ranking of the best restaurants in the world 50 Best according to San Pellegrino. - Approx. Ed.). Can Russia EXPO change anything?

Anton: Yes, only they know. But all of us - Komm, Mukhin, Berezutsky (Brothers Berezutsky - chefs and co-owners of the Twins restaurant, also ambassadors of Russia EXPO 2015. - Ed.) - unfortunately, as if not together. Each of us is absolutely sure that he is the one who will bring to the top a new wave of Russian cuisine. It is not right. EXPO is perhaps a small step towards rapprochement, towards making us aware of ourselves as part of a single process.

SNC: Why did you decide to cook porridge with kvass?

Anton: The main idea is that Russian products and traditional tastes, combined with modern culinary technologies, give a cool result. This is what I try to show through the Fahrenheit menu, and above all through the chef's set.

SNC: It's not easy to get on your set. You need to book a few weeks in advance, almost like in world famous restaurants.

Anton: It's no secret that food is becoming an event today. I think it's correct. And it's great that this is happening in Russia. Food is an art, just like theater, like traveling.

SNC: Taste is very subjective.

Anton: This is subjective, but there are factors that guide you assuming that it will be delicious. At least qualitatively. Products, equipment, technologies. Plus you already have some expectation. As a result, you compare the result that you received, your impressions and the price you paid. That's when you can form your own opinion. This is how any restaurant is critiqued. The main thing is that you pay yourself. This is the key point.

There is not a single critic in Moscow. There is a critic from St. Petersburg, Boris, we have insider.moscow (Not completely anonymous and rather provocative blog about restaurants. - Approx. ed.). It is felt that they cut some details, they understand what is on the plate, they distinguish products, they understand who just sells and who tries, who puts the Lego constructor on the plate, and who puts it from the heart. This is about criticism.

SNC: How do you select food for a restaurant? How is the menu made up, from what?

Anton: First of all, seasonality. I no longer perceive food differently. Cooking with seasonal strawberries is profitable. Both for you and for people. For some reason, many still do not understand this: “They eat berries all the time, I will buy them fresh for two and a half thousand rubles, they have no taste, and I will sell them in winter and put them in dessert as a decoration, because I don’t know what else to put. Or, for example, they brought us fresh black chanterelles to try. I made two dishes - the bomb! Put it on the menu. I went to the weekend market near the house, bought corn, cooked soup with it at home. Space! That's it, we urgently need to put some seasonal evening of corn. Or black Rostov pigmented garlic. These guys from Rostov generally contacted me through Instagram. Garlic - via Instagram, can you imagine?! Garlic has an account! Now I have it in my set, we made ice cream out of it, there will be several desserts with black garlic on the autumn menu. It simply cannot be compared with Asian. The Asian makes some incredible journey to get to us, but this one doesn't. There is, of course, a centralized procurement system for the main products. The rest is a constant search: suppliers, Facebook, but all means are good. For example, I know that a Russian key has now appeared. A super popular product in Europe, in America, perhaps everywhere. Do you know how much a kale costs? 1800 per kilo. For cabbage. This not normal. Here is our problem. The Russian problem is when you can't afford to buy a simple product. I can't explain to people why it costs so much. Surely girls who know what kale is would eat it with pleasure. It's super-healthy! But you will not explain why you are selling this dish for at least 800 rubles. I need to buy it, process it, cook it and take into account the cost price. And this is an absolutely crazy price! In the States, a kale costs $6, and it will last for two more days. Or Russian artichokes. They are excellent, but three artichokes cost 453 rubles. I have a casual restaurant, I would love to put this on the menu, but I can't - how to explain to people. They bring us a chicken from Krasnodar. He is a farmer, yellow, small, with the right cartilage, with the right meat, not like the "Ashanov" chicken, in which the cartilage is not formed. So, I can buy a Krasnodar chicken only for a set, I can’t put it on the menu, because no one will take it for that kind of money. The problem is that these are inadequate prices - due to logistics, due to the fact that we do not have federal support.

Another problem: the consumer of the mass market, unfortunately, does not know what he is taking. He doesn't care for now. This is our generation thinking about it, someone does not eat one thing, someone else. I also don’t eat a lot of things: mayonnaise, sausage, dumplings. I do not drink industrial juices, Coca-Cola. I just know it's trash. It's the same with food: in some restaurants you will eat, and in some you won't. It's no secret that some expensive restaurants are not shy about putting cubes in the broth. When you realize that, to put it mildly, you are being fooled, when you are being sold oxtail stew for seven hundred rubles at a cost of fifty, this is already PR, marketing. If you are not popular, although you make the best gnocchi in the area, cook the best borscht at the Dostoevskaya metro station, no one will come to you. If you were doing this in London, people would appreciate it. Everyone understands that in a restaurant they sell not only food, but also the name, the face of the chef, the face of the restaurateur. But it is better when both the chef and the restaurateur work together.

SNC: What is the success of such a tandem?

Anton: All successful restaurateurs are very smart people. In my opinion, we chefs are a little one-sided - we look at everything from the side of the kitchen. The main role of the restaurateur in tandem, probably, is to properly guide, help the chef open up. Say: "Think, you can do better." Never teach a chef how to cook. A competent restaurateur will imperceptibly plant an idea in the head of the chef so that he does not even notice.

SNC: What a perfect wife!

Anton: Yes, this is an absolutely comparable thing. The restaurateur is responsible for the harmony of "family life".

SNC: Who do you like in Moscow as a restaurateur? Well, except for Dellos. Rappoport?

Anton: I went to the “Chinese Letter” several times, and I don’t go there anymore. Probably right, insider.moscow wrote that Rappoport stamps establishments well, but they have no soul. From a business point of view, he has a super-successful, I think, institution. The Internet is drowning in discussions about the fact that Rappoport does not allow chefs to come out, does not show them, but that's another story. I am not a consumer of his restaurants, I can honestly say. I like it in Savva, I like "Roll". I went to Saxone+Parole for brunch here - good.

SNC: How do you like El Celler de Can Roca? )?

Anton: Incredible. Just imagine: you are going to the best restaurant in the world. You go to a restaurant with very high expectations. To be honest, I thought it would be a little worse there, and I was glad to be wrong. This is not a food point, this is a huge locomotive that sets trends. They [Roca brothers] are not alone there. This is a big job, a huge number of people behind the scenes, there are large-scale laboratories, separate buildings, a library. People stand on their feet 16 hours a day, six days a week. Only when you see how they work there, you begin to understand - this is the level. There are no such places in Moscow. In Moscow, they don't go to chefs.

SNC: They do if they are cute fashion guys. Like you, for example.

Anton: They go to the chefs - media people. They don’t come to you, because you have delicious food, they go to fashion. We don't have a culture of event restaurants. In the States, event restaurants are full because people come from all over the world. Moreover, they are already more than a gastronomic experience - today many arrange business meetings there.

SNC: We don't have people going for a rising star unless she's been publicized, whether you're anyone.

Anton: Everyone knows that many restaurants use the services of promoters who bring people. Promoters are paid money for this, and even so, the restaurant fills up for a very long time. How many establishments have closed since January. Moreover, good projects are closed, with delicious food, with all the necessary paraphernalia. Holy Fox is now closed. It's not easy to survive today.

SNC: Is the trip to El Celler de Can Roca an experience for the sake of experience?

Anton: This is the beginning of a large-scale project. The Roca brothers will come to Moscow in the autumn, and in the restaurants of each of our dinner participants [such as William Lamberti, Elena Chekalova, Dmitry Zotov and other famous Moscow chefs] there will be dinners inspired by our trip. A round table will be held on the development of Russian gastronomy, support for farming. It will be attended by bosses, the Roca brothers, representatives of government agencies, private traders like Bori Akimov, who created a brilliant movement (LavkaLavka. - Approx. ed.). Maybe there will be some kind of impact.

SNC: The logical way forward is to become a restaurateur yourself. You want your own restaurant, of course?

Anton: Yes, and I think that I will do it soon. Most likely not only in Moscow.

SNC: What will it be like? More gastronomic, more eventful?

Anton: Of course. It would be a small restaurant, forty seats, I would not do more. Open kitchen, small menu, normal prices. Lunch, break, evening service. I would like a chef to come to every table with a dish that the guest ordered, because no one will tell you better about food than the person who cooked it. And I would pick up such a team that each cook would be really proud of each of his dishes. Unfortunately, not all cooks yet understand this huge chain: the end result of what he does is a guest who sits on a chair. Everything is worth doing so that the guest eats and likes it. I like to feed people. I'm not even in the middle of the road, but at the beginning. I know exactly where I want to go, I have goals, ambitions, this is normal for every chef, I think. And the goals are not only to earn three stars, but also to promote - in a good way - Russian cuisine.

SNC: You are patriotic. And in another country, would you open something on the theme of the very “new Russian cuisine”?

Anton: Yes, definitely. It's just stupid to open an Asian restaurant. I really enjoy playing with classic recipes and reinventing them. For example, porridge. This is a dish with which we have already lived for many centuries. Cereals are historically rarely used in main dishes - in Russia, Italy and India. We [in Fahrenheit] have a course called Porridge in the set, we constantly change the type of cereal. Buckwheat, for example, we cooked on a mixture of mushroom broth and pu-erh. Of course, this is not the buckwheat that everyone is used to. Someone will say that this is wrong, that this is a distortion - it makes no difference to me. I will do what I see fit to show what Russian food can be today.

You are a romantic person?

Yes. I believe in pure love. I think it still exists. It's just more difficult to remain romantic in big cities. But I am like that, and I like to do some romantic things for people.

When was the last time you read poetry?

Recently. And, very romantic. Author Edward Estlin Cummings (Edward Estlin Cummings - ed.). The poem is called "I carry your heart in me." One girl told me and I really liked it. I even found the original in English. Not just romance...

How many times a day do you eat?

I definitely have breakfast. Basically, I cook porridge - oatmeal, rice, millet. I can add maple syrup to porridge or crumble cookies. Then I eat at work and in the evening. On average, three times a day. Although at work - not always. When, for example, you need to think of something, it is best to do it on an empty stomach. Thoughts like "now I would eat ..." arise when a person is hungry. Be sure to cook at home on Saturday or Sunday. It's an essential part of the weekend.

Have you been on a diet?

I go to the gym and at some point, for the sake of interest, I wanted to go on a diet to dry myself. I ate mostly protein foods. Up to four hours you could eat 50 grams of carbohydrates - it's just nothing. Because at seven o'clock your body is so hungry, and you can only vegetables and proteins. I even sat without salt for a week. And, of course, did not eat sweets. In general, I am a fan of sweet, good pastries. On weekends, I definitely go to a good bakery to eat a croissant. Therefore, this item was the biggest torture for me. But after two weeks of the diet, you put a piece of chocolate in your mouth, and you feel it that way ... My friend, sous-chef confectioner Artem, keeps pushing me to go on a vegetarian diet. Why not? I don't usually fast. But this year I decided to fast at least for the last two weeks - just for myself, to see how the body reacts.

How do you feel about "health products" - fat-free, fortified, non-GMO?

I understand that there is a production policy, a huge industry that earns big money. But I believe in small farms. There are, of course, good industrial products. You have to choose. For example, if the milk I buy is stored for five to seven days, it means that there are very few chemical components in it. But about apples that are so shiny that you can see your reflection in them, I doubt it. We are a generation of gloss, we see everything through TV, magazines and billboards embellished and exaggerated. But you need to understand that natural products have never been beautiful, as in the picture. Something I don’t remember that my grandmother had shiny apples in the garden. And the tastiest tangerines in Morocco are the ugliest. Not the ones that we sell with black diamonds on the side. As for the harm of GMO foods, no one has evidence of their benefit or harm. And fat-free foods are just diluted and, accordingly, less tasty.

Who would you like to feed?

Near and dear people. I rarely have the opportunity to feed my mother, but I always do it with joy. And sister. Then it was a great joy and honor for me to feed Eneko Atha, the chef of the Azurmendi restaurant (three Michelin stars - ed.) in Bilbao, when he was on tour with us. Azurmendi is ranked 26th in the top 50 best restaurants in the world. And this man didn't just eat what I cooked - he took pictures of the dishes and asked how it was cooked. This moment is worth 17 years of my work. And, of course, every evening we are happy to feed all our guests.

What would you like to try yourself?

I would try puffer fish. But I would not eat fried cockroaches, unlike ants. I can't, after all, eat everything. Although somehow my friends and I went to Hong Kong and agreed to try everything there for the sake of interest. But there, thank God, there were no nasty things. One of the strangest things I've ever tasted is hot sugary water with a raw egg in it. It is eaten for breakfast. Recently, I am surprised not so much by the interpretations of chefs as by the most traditional things. In Spain, I tried a classic Mexican appetizer - pork stew in a bun. Then an American friend told me that it was stewed pork with burnt bananas and a couple of pieces of chocolate. Essentially a traditional Mexican mole sauce. Another example is ceviche, which is now popular with us. It's a traditional South American snack.

What is your favorite dish?

When I was little, my mother used to make walnut pie for New Years. And when I became a cook, I asked her for a pie recipe. "What pie?" - "Yours, with nuts" - "Yes, I have never made a pie with nuts." So I didn't remember. And even now, if I close my eyes, I see a frying pan, and in it a pie with a crispy crust. He was wonderful. I also always liked how my mother cooks kharcho. I would never refuse. Yes, there is not much food in the world that I refuse. Although there is. The vinaigrette. I have not digested it since kindergarten. Until the age of 22, he did not perceive boiled beets at all as food.

What do you always eat at home?

Milk. Eggs. Kashi. Avocado. Lettuce leaves. Eggplant. But what you can't live without is butter. I prefer farmer's, but if there is no way to get to the market, I take Vologda. When I was an intern in America, we became friends with one chef, and then went on vacation with him and his girlfriend to Barcelona. He is a cook, I am a cook. All talk about food and about women. And we had such a joke: "Butter or ...". For example, "Butter or girl?" That is, if you choose a girl, you will never be able to use butter in the kitchen. Tons of alternatives.

And who wins more often?

Always butter.

Five undeservedly forgotten products

Quinoa- pseudo-grain culture, ready-made resembling porridge. The first consumers - the Incas - called quinoa the "golden grain". The protein content of quinoa is 16.2%. This is more than in any cereal, and as much as in buckwheat. The Dalai Lama advocates the cultivation of quinoa in Tibet and the Himalayas, and scientists want to cultivate it everywhere. But most importantly, quinoa is a fruit.

Spelled- a special kind of wheat, from which very unsuccessful flour is obtained, but excellent cereals. Spelled has a record amount of vegetable protein - up to 37%, 18 essential amino acids, B vitamins, and all this is remarkably digestible.

Parsnip- sweet, tasty, one of the most beloved vegetables in Europe. Parsnip root is called white root. It is boiled, baked and put in a salad.

celery root- the most useful part of the plant. Celery root is prepared in all possible ways, including salting. But the healthiest option is to eat it raw, such as in a salad with carrots and apples. A very dietary dish, if you season it not with mayonnaise, but with vegetable oil.

Salsify also called "devil's beard". The most common culinary species is the goat-beard. This is also a root, also white, and it is also cooked in Europe in a variety of ways. It's time to learn from the experience.

Recipe from Anton Kovalkov: caramelized brioche with lavender and blackcurrant ice cream

For one dessert: 1 brioche, 60 g sugar, a pinch of lavender, 100 ml milk, 100 ml 35% cream, 1 egg, 45 g blackcurrant ice cream.

For the lavender mousse: 300 ml milk, 300 ml 35% cream, 40 g sugar, 3 g dry lavender.

pickled cherries: 100 g freshly frozen cherries, 14 g sugar, 14 g water, 10 yuzu juice.

Cut the brioche into a 3cm thick flat washer and soak overnight in a mixture of milk, sugar, cream, lavender and egg. If you are not going to fry, do not add an egg to the mixture. But if you want the brioche to be warm, fry it on both sides in butter before serving and then caramelize.

To prepare the mousse, pour milk and cream into a bowl, add lavender and sugar, heat, remove from heat, let stand 20 minutes, pour into a cream siphon and let cool. After that, fill the siphon with gas cylinders.

Lightly heat the cherries in water with sugar and yuzu juice and cool.

The last step is to sprinkle the brioche with sugar and caramelize. Arrange lavender mousse, cherries, and ice cream on a nearby plate. Dessert is ready!

About Anton Kovalkov I had heard a lot before I went to the interview. Most often, he was described only as "the most beautiful and sexiest chef in the world." Moscow". I remember when I heard this, I even started searching the Internet for his photo. Really, Anton extremely good-looking. And when I met him, I was first of all struck by purposefulness and some kind of correct internal rigidity in achieving goals. In this age of erasing gender boundaries, it is especially pleasant to communicate with a real man in every way. I hope you will find something useful for yourself in our conversation with the famous chef Anton Kovalkov.

I never experienced fame or thought about whether I was beautiful. What else did they say about me? I know that I was on some list of the best suitors in Moscow and was next to Danila Kozlovsky (30). (Laughs.) I don't react to such news. If someone considers me beautiful - thank you, interesting - thank you again.

My path is pretty normal. Trained, became a chef, worked until I got the chance to become a chef at the age of 21. I used this chance with pleasure and began to work, develop, discover some facets of the profession. In cooking, as in any other business, passion for what you do helps. There is no ceiling. My zeal has led me to internships abroad and around the world. At one time I lived and trained in America. I am constantly in search of myself.

My passion and zeal is probably a kind of phenomenon, because appetite comes with eating. When I learned to be a cook and started working, at first I did not experience this, I did not think that this would become my life's work. But at some point, I began to understand that it’s cool not only to cook delicious food, but also to learn something new about it.

I not only know how to cook. (Laughs.) At one time I played the guitar. I still strum occasionally, but this happens less and less, as the work absorbs completely and becomes not only a job, but also a hobby. I put the most into my business. In any field, be it sports, work or some kind of hobby, you set yourself goals. You do it all for yourself.

I remember how once I received confirmation for an internship in London, and then my knowledge of the English language was reduced to zero. I was interested in the language at school, but I studied very poorly. To be honest, I got kicked out of four schools. I just didn't like it there. Parents experienced it hard, they blushed for me at meetings, of course. And the only subject that I liked was English. But when the internship offer came in, I ran into a problem: I needed to communicate with them somehow. And for the first time in a long time, I started cramming the language. I understood that in the shortest possible time you just need to squeeze out the maximum. And I did it.

My family is completely normal. Since childhood, no one has inspired me: “Believe in yourself, everything will work out!” I have always been a fidget, and this feeling has remained in me.

Becoming a chef, I saved money. Of course, I allowed myself something, bought, but I had a certain amount, which I set aside from each salary. And I spent all my savings on trips, internships. And over time, I began to understand that these are investments in myself, that is, those investments for which you never feel sorry for money.

The hardest part was getting started. My first internship showed that I just wasn't ready for it. Everything is different there, a completely different world, people live with different values ​​in their heads and mentality. Then it becomes easier, because you already have an idea about the country and people.

Young chefs often write to me asking how to go on an internship, asking for help. Perhaps I am breaking the “picture” for someone, but many do not even understand where they are going and what they want from it. And they are also not ready for this internship, as I once was. These are completely different priorities, working in a foreign environment, you are no longer a chef, but just an ordinary cook. And I always say: "Guys, you must understand that no one is waiting for you there." It may sound hackneyed, but many people judge cuisines abroad by video clips in YouTube, where everything lies beautifully on plates. It's great, of course. But if you are going to go there, you must be mentally prepared. There is no such relaxed atmosphere as in many kitchens in Moscow and all over Russia. It is very hard, intensive and at the same time interesting work.

The starting point for me is the product, and everything else is a flight of fancy. I take a product and make some kind of my own interpretation, based more on international experience. I'm not saying that every dish we cook will have a truly Russian taste, no. There is a reflection of modernity in every dish, as we boldly apply technology in the kitchen.

For many foreigners, Russian cuisine is associated with stereotypes like stuffed cabbage, dumplings and borscht. In our restaurant we make the approach to dishes more international, we use a lot of Asian and Indian techniques and motifs. I do not set any limits: I will take this product, but not this one. The bottom line is that everything should be close to the Russian product. Yes, it does not always take over the main idea of ​​the dish, sometimes it can simply emphasize some basic element, but it can also be the main one. I don't limit myself.

Many people ask me: “Do you bother in the kitchen at home?” Not! I don't get bored.(Laughs.) My girlfriend cooks deliciously, but sometimes I also get up at the stove. She's great at home baking. She knows that I really like sweets, pastries and especially freshly baked bread. Many people think that I cook complex dishes at home, but I myself no longer notice what is difficult and what is not. I can wake up, fry bread, chop salmon, make a poached egg and broccoli salad. And for me it's easy. (Laughs.) As a result, I get a dish, like in a restaurant. Of course, I don’t have time to cook every day, more often I just cook porridge.

I always have milk, eggs, avocados, some salad, eggplant and good butter in my refrigerator. They bring it to me from a village farm.

I am not one of those people who say: "I do not eat meat and against those who eat it." You eat meat, don't eat, it's none of my business. We used to have a confectioner who didn't eat meat, but ate chicken. I always asked: "How so?" Didn't get an answer. Yes, I somehow limited myself, I was on a diet. Now I don't do it, but I want to fast. I'll try to get through at least a week.

The only thing I can't understand this is when a person is going to some special dinner, where a special menu is expected, orders a table in advance, and then says: “I don’t eat this, cook me something else.” At such dinners, each serving has its own philosophy - there is a single concept. If the guest refuses this or that dish, the concept is lost and the guest will not be able to enjoy the whole evening in full. Therefore, I always say, warn about your taste preferences in advance.

In principle, I am susceptible to criticism. If, for example, three guests like the dish, and the fourth says: “I don’t understand,” then this is normal. After all, there are a lot of nuances in the dish, and it's great that people try our cuisine, they are interested. It's great. As a chef, this warms my soul.

London is one of those cities where I can come for two weeks, walk around, eat and drink. There is a huge selection of establishments. Maybe I could even live there. But I dream of a ghostly beauty australia. Never been there. But I have many friends who have been and worked there. Everyone likes. In general, I am still a citizen of the world. I would love to try my hand at different cities and with strong restaurateurs.

I believe in fate. In my opinion, whatever happens is for the best. I have never been disappointed in my profession and I feel in my place, therefore I am happy. In bookstores, I see entire collections on how to find your calling in life. People are writing books about it! And I came to my happiness on my own.

70% of my reading is professional culinary books, 15% fiction books and another 15% self-development books. I really liked Brian Tracy, this is one of the first books that made such a strong impression on me. Very like Stephen Covey and his The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", shockingly correct. These authors say things that you already knew, but they systematize them ingeniously! Kiyosaki I was also very impressed. " Rich dad, poor dad is one of those books that I would recommend for everyone to read. I think these books should be given to read at school.

I love movies and cartoons. Most good films inspire me. Chief Aden Jones is one of the best films about my field of work. I sincerely sympathized with the hero. At some point, I was even ready to shed a tear. I love films that show the hero's ambitions. They seem to dream of the unattainable, but with every step they get closer to their dream, and it's amazing!

There are actors that I like. For example, -Jr(50), it is absolutely ambiguous. A man who was already at the very bottom, but found strength in himself, got up and went on. Now everyone knows him as one of the most sought-after and highly paid actors. Awesome path! And the path was steep. I have always liked actors who personify courage and willpower.

I remember very well my first salary, I bought myself a guitar pickup with it. I was then only 15 years old. My friend and I worked all summer at a construction site. Some might think it's boring, but it was actually a great experience. When they gave us the first money, we went to a music store - it was in Nizhny Novgorod - and bought a guitar "gadget" and a pickup.

My mom is a great cook. She makes pilaf and pies especially tasty. When I became a cook, I began to ask what kind of cake she cooked. Mom replies: "I don't understand what you're talking about." She made this cake every New Year and I absolutely loved it! And my mother has very tasty pancakes with raisins. They were thin, and inside - soaked raisins, it's very tasty! I also remember my grandmother's cutlets with mashed potatoes and tomato sauce. Everything is so delicious! Yes, these are simple things, but what else is needed in childhood.

I advise young chefs not to feel sorry for themselves. And I would suggest two more things. Set aside 10% of every salary and don't touch it. And spend 50% of your free income on your own development. The hardest thing is to cultivate a desire in yourself. And only when you get infected with some idea, you can no longer be stopped, whether you are 17 years old, 27 or 37. There is always something to strive for, and you should not forget about it.

Anton Kovalkov

Chef of the restaurant "Fahrenheit" (Moscow)

Recruitment agency HoReCa Talents continues to meet and get acquainted with the most successful, talented guys! Today we bring to your attention an interview with Anton Kovalkov. It will take a long time to read, we talked for two hours, but it was very interesting.

- Anton, are you from Nizhny Novgorod?
- Yes. I traveled a lot, trained. It all started when he lived and worked in Nizhny Novgorod. I wanted to keep evolving. First I did an internship in London at the Hibiscus restaurant, and then a year later I went to the Noma restaurant, Noma then had the first year when they took the prize of the best restaurant in the world, at that time I was lucky to work there. It was an unforgettable experience. After that there were Europe, Spain, Stockholm, Asia.

— What surprised you about working during internships abroad?
- Everyone works in a different mode, in Russia no one works like that. There are very few people who work with such passion. There are few such people as in Europe, America, hard walkers who have devoted their lives to working in the kitchen, knowing that this is their life. For them, it's 7 days a week. And it might just be a line cook. We don't have those. Even the trainees who come to work there have more passion than some Chefs in Russia. This will be confirmed by any Chef who has trained in such restaurants. Our people have not seen how they work there, or they are not infected with it, I don’t know. And they seem to be interested, but they are trying to jump back and forth all the time. And it's not that we don't have Michelin restaurants, we have talented Chefs who develop the gastronomic world, but they can't find the THAT dream-team. It's worth a lot when Chefs find people here in Russia with glowing eyes.

- I'm interested in how long it takes to work in such a mode as in Noma. Were there line chefs working for several years?
- Rarely. If they are linear, then basically they move from station to station, grow, become older. Some of course go a long way, from line chef to sous chef, etc.

Do chefs from different countries have this opportunity?
— Yes, it all depends on how dedicated you are to your work, the main criterion is your passion. You have to be talented, a perfectionist. I had a goal to look at different approaches, so I had short-term internships - from a month to several, in different good restaurants.

- When will we come to the understanding of "going to the Chief"?
- Probably in 10 years. But we are moving. We traveled as ambassadors to the Milan Expo, as ambassadors of the present, to Montreal for the Omnivore festival in August. They made dinner. Chefs came to try. Pascal Barbot, (3 Michelin stars), tried everything, said it was interesting, delicious. The world community is beginning to show interest, despite the geopolitical situation. People who are closer to cooking, they are probably further away from politics.

- Would you like to work abroad?
- It is hard to say. Europe, of course, always beckons with its certain things. There, for example, the cult of the Chef has already been formed, people go for food, and they understand that Food and the Chef are very important. I think, over time, you could try your hand at Europe. Until I know the location. One thing I know is that I will not be able to cook something that is not close in style to me, but Russian modern cuisine is close to me. This is how I characterize her. New Russian cuisine, or a new wave of Russian cuisine, it doesn't matter. Author's. We grew up in Russian cuisine, we have our own mentality. Potato with mushrooms is delicious, buckwheat with mushrooms is delicious. Sea buckthorn for me is a garden tree with berries. And for example, for Americans, Spaniards, this is not typical, they may never have seen it.

I had the honor of feeding Joan Rock, the best Chef in the world right now, a couple of weeks ago. I made him a dessert with millet porridge, pumpkin, sea buckthorn, and he tried it, he said it was wonderful. For him, these are unusual tastes, he perceives them as new. He liked it very much, said: "It's interesting, it's great."

Of course, I would like to try my hand at a gastronomic project in Europe, over time. This is one of the steps. I am 30 years old, so many roads are open, I am not even in the middle of the road, but at the beginning. However, I think that there is no age when you can “sit down and calm down”, for someone even 25 years old is the age when he believes that he has achieved everything. It is not right.

— How to remain a media chief, since it is very important in Moscow, and not to miss the workflow?
- It's a balance. Time management. A chef is already a person working at a different level, not just like a cook. That is, you have to be a leader. Therefore, I agree on all meetings in advance, I do everything in advance. You need to be able to manage your time. This is a lifestyle of a healthy successful person. Be efficient at work, be efficient in life.

— What does it mean to be effective at work for the Chief?
- Just to catch this balance between the organization of the kitchen, the creative process, and studies. Catch the balance, and be efficient.

- About the organization of the process. Is it possible for the Chief to learn how to work systematically if he is creative, for example, but a bad organizer?
- It all depends on the person. He cannot be forced. In addition to creativity, the Chef must, of course, be tasty, disciplined, and organized. But all together, in balance, this is the Chief. It cannot be one-sided, only creative, or only delicious. Together.

— Are there such examples?
- In Moscow, I did not work under the leadership of some Chef. No, at the very beginning I worked for A. Quetglas, there was a system there. But the best system is the one I saw during my internships. There is such a well-oiled mechanism! There is a system, and it is built on people. If a person treats work in bad faith, then he will not make this mechanism rotate. Anatoly Komm said that the kitchen should be like a well-oiled tourbion. Each wheel knows where it is spinning. This is all true. This is probably the test of the Chef's talent as an organizer. The chef must be sure that what is needed is released from the kitchen when he is not.

When did the chief leave?
“This is one of the hardest things about the job. From a distance, you can only trust. You can't control. In the end, it all depends on how the system is built. By the way, we recently turned a year old, we all looked around, looked, realized that in fact there were not so many people left.

- But there are no "random" anymore?
There are no more random ones. Everyone who works works because they want to work Here. And not because someone forced, etc. They want to work with me, in this team. I believe that people should be trusted. Do not try to do it yourself - this is a question for the Chief as a leader. If you cannot delegate authority, you will not build a system.

— How to motivate chefs and keep them in constant good shape?
- Motivation is different. We don't have a huge financial incentive. Only material is not right. Although financial motivation is one of the most important in the work. When it is clear, suits, others come into force: what will I get from this work, how will the future develop, what can be achieved in this restaurant, in this company.
How to motivate: you need to talk to people, explain what is important. Your Sous Chefs should be on the same team with you. Relationships in our team are friendly. But I'm not an angel in the kitchen. And if in the evening we drank together at the celebration, it does not mean that tomorrow I will remain silent if the cook is wrong.

— And when the Sous-chefs grow up. Let go with a light soul?
- With pleasure. I will only be glad if someone comes out from under my wing and goes further.

- There are those who will work with you for three months, and then say in another company: take me, did I work with Anton Kovalkov?))
- Yes it was. This is very funny. Having worked in a line position, in a good place, he says, “I know everything, well, what else will they teach me!”

- Do you visit other restaurants with the Chefs?
- Yes with pleasure. I have friendly relations with Chiefs. I don't have chef-friends in Moscow. In Nizhny Novgorod, my best friend was the Chef of a competitive restaurant. We talked on culinary topics and there were no secrets from each other. The Moscow community is somewhat closed in professional communication.

Do they copy your work?
- It happens, but I always understand, "where the legs grow from." Let them copy, I'll come up with more. Even if they copy it outright, I don't care, it's not a problem. I like to share, I willingly conduct master classes, come and see. The whole world is sharing with each other.

- Do you personally, as the Chief, have competitors?
— Vladimir Mukhin, Brothers Berezutsky, Georgy Troyan, Anatoly Kazakov, Andrey Shmakov — we work in a similar style. We do one thing, we are contemporaries. But we think differently, we have different schools, we have different hands, different interpretations. I’m not ashamed to say, after eating someone’s dish: “This is cool, this is cool, this is something to think about, an interesting idea!”

- How does the idea come to mind? What is the source of inspiration?
— There is no clear resource where I would draw inspiration from. Differently. Sometimes some kind of exhibition can incite an idea, sometime an idea can come from a product, a feeling, an understanding. There are several resources, roughly speaking: some childhood memories, traditions, traditional products, new products, and just a flight of fancy.

Can hobbies lead to ideas?
- I know that some ideas come while drawing, or when they make a sketch of dishes, for example, I'm not one of those. I have ideas in my head. And you can get inspired in different ways. It used to be a dream. I write a lot, if something comes to mind, I write right away.

- Dessert "crooked hands" - this is clearly from childhood?
- Oh sure. Dessert with millet and pumpkin too. I wanted to make a dessert with porridge, but I didn’t want to make cold porridge, we boil millet separately, then mix it with separately prepared cold pumpkin mousse. No feeling of cold porridge. I loved okroshka, but you can eat it in summer, but not in winter. I came up with a hot okroshka. We took the same ingredients, cooked the broth, based on kvass and baked vegetables. And all the other ingredients, everything that is included in the okroshka - they made a full-fledged hot soup from this.

— Where did you like from the last restaurants you visited?
- I like A. Shmakov in Savva, I liked Madame Vong, I pleasantly admire Dmitry Zotov. Stepping over from a cook to a restaurateur is a good way to develop. "Roll" and Timur always pleasantly surprise me. I want to go to Kutuzovskiy, 5 in a couple of weeks. Family getaway weekend restaurant for me is Torro Grill, good value. I study the culture of Moscow, I go to different restaurants. When I travel the world, I always look through the eyes of a visitor - is the chair comfortable, is it comfortable to lean against the wall. Abroad, I liked one place with amazingly delicious food, but the chair was so uncomfortable that I would not return there again.

What restaurant would you open if you had the opportunity?
— I would open a simple restaurant, casual, for people. We have not disclosed the topic of mono-concepts, maybe something like that. In my head, 5 years later, I probably still own the establishment. But I can’t be outside the kitchen, and I’m sure I’ll never change a chef’s tunic for an office jacket.

- Tell us about the rest, books?
- I got myself an English Shepherd, a small one, now I walk with a dog)) Her name is Hugh. I like to walk when the weather is good. Yesterday I went to the theater. About books, I recently read Keys Daniel's "The Multiple Minds of Billy Milligan", and his "Flowers for Jelon", I highly recommend it. It's about human evolution, the meaning is that an experiment was conducted on a mentally retarded man of the age of 30, and with the help of neurosurgery, this flaw was corrected for him, and he began to grow. It describes very beautifully how nothing has changed in the world, only his perception has changed, and how he turns from an idiot into a genius during the book. The book is written in the form of a diary. How he begins to understand more than others, etc. I sometimes try to take a break from cookbooks, there are also a lot of them.

- Anton, do you feel the moment of popularity?
I don't feel like a star at all. There are world gastronomic stars, this is yes, this is a landmark, that's when I will be there, and the first stars of gastronomy will come up to me, shake my hand, and say: “Well done, Anton, you are doing the right things,” then, yes, I feel that I am on the right track. When Joan Roca himself approached me, expressed his desire and said that he really liked it, he remembered what he ate, and said that this was one of the best memories of Russia that he would have - I was very pleased. In these moments, you realize that this is what you are working for. When venerable Chefs tell you that you are on the right path, it is very stimulating to develop and think, think and move on!

— What would you wish to the ambitious young generation?
- That's it for the ambitious young generation I wish that they do not jump ahead of their heads. I myself was like that. The fact is that now a large flow of information is being dumped, and people are forgetting about the basic things, about the classics. Learn what you need to know and then move on. And of course, don't stop dreaming. Love your job!

You need to be able to manage your time. This is a lifestyle of a healthy successful person. Be efficient at work, be efficient in life

I am 30 years old, so many roads are open, I am not even in the middle of the road, but at the beginning

The chef must be, of course, tasty, disciplined, organized. But all together, in balance - this is the Chef

Relationships in our team are friendly. But I'm not an angel in the kitchen

Every year more and more restaurants open in Moscow, and each of them, of course, needs a chef. The younger generation of line chefs and sous chefs is not growing as fast as we would like; culinary schools still rarely graduate those who want to tear off with their hands. Therefore, restaurateurs often bring experienced foreigners to the capital - chefs from Italy, France, Malaysia, the USA, and so on. The Village keeps a close eye on the emerging industry and occasionally finds up-and-coming young chefs to talk about. Among the new big names that are worth knowing, Russians come across much less often, but today we are talking about just such.

Anton Kovalkov

chef of the restaurant and bar "Favorite Place 22.13"

So far, Anton Kovalkov is not particularly famous in Moscow. This is because before Global Point he worked in Nizhny Novgorod. And he didn't waste any time there. After studying at college, he studied at MAG in Moscow, and here he worked for some time at the Chipollino restaurant. Returning to Novgorod, at the age of 21 he became a chief for the first time. According to Anton, it was the best restaurant in the city, but the thirst for knowledge overcame, and he sent letters to hundreds of European restaurants asking about the possibility of an internship. The first internship that Anton went to was at Hibiscus, a London restaurant with two Michelin stars. That was four years ago, and now the Chicago restaurant Alinea (three Michelin stars) and Noma (two Michelin stars) also appear on Kovalkov's track record.

In 2013, Anton Kovalkov gave a master class at the Omnivore festival in Moscow. The views on the modern cuisine of the chef, in his own words, completely coincide with the idea of ​​the new young cuisine of the festival. Kovalkov advocates the use of Russian products, the search for new flavor combinations, for making everything possible in his kitchen, using ready-made ingredients to a minimum.

Anton himself says that the current menu at 22.13 is just the beginning, "further it will be more interesting." By autumn, tasting sets will appear, about which the chef says: “It will be a reflection of what I really have in my head.”

Start

I decided to become a chef at the age of 15, but then the choice was not conscious. I moved from the city of Sarov - there is such a small town in the Nizhny Novgorod region, named after a saint - to Nizhny Novgorod. I was 15 years old and needed to get some kind of profession. My sister went to college, and there was a college at the institute, there were acquaintances, and they asked me: “Will you go?” There were two options - a cook and an auto mechanic. I decided that digging in cars, in oil and being a grimy is not my thing.

I studied for a profession, got an internship in a restaurant, and after about six months I began to enjoy what I was doing. There was a thirst for knowledge and interest in the kitchen, I began to buy books. Then I got into a restaurant where there was a very good Moscow chef. Every year it got more and more interesting.

I became a chef at the age of 21, in Nizhny Novgorod. My first restaurant is somewhat reminiscent of "22.13" in terms of interior. This is one of the oldest restaurants in the city, it is now eight years old. And one of the most popular. Everything was not bad, but just one day I realized that this was not enough for me, I had to study further.

Internships

I have trained in many places. Without too much modesty, I am one of a small number of Russian chefs who have traveled all over the world. One of the most important places is probably Noma (Restaurant chef Rene Redzepi, with two Michelin stars, has been recognized as the best in the world by various guides and magazines in recent years. - Approx. ed.). I am the first Russian who was there. Spent a month. Of the restaurants with three Michelin stars were Chicago's Alinea and New York's Eleven Madison Park. With two stars: Hibiscus (London), Frantzen (Stockholm), Chez Dominique (Helsinki), Corton (New York) and Atelier Crenn (San Francisco).

My first internship was in London, at Hibiscus. He was then included in the 50 best restaurants in the world. Now I'm 28, and when I started traveling abroad, I was 24. I worked as a chef in Nizhny Novgorod. I worked and saved money: I had a goal. At first I saved up a certain amount, then I chose the restaurant I wanted to go to and thought about how to do it. It turned out differently, often I found the right people, I'm lucky.

The language barrier. When I went to London, I spoke very little English. My sister helped me - she is an English teacher. She wrote me a resume in English, helped me write letters to restaurants. Gave me a template on how to do it. When they wrote to me: “Come back in a month”, this month I just surrounded myself with books, textbooks and began to teach. My sister helped here too. Human self-development is one of the most elementary things. A person should not stand still in any case, no matter who he is. Not only in terms of profession, but also in terms of all life - morally, spiritually, physically. These are the rules of life. This is normal for every person.

During the internships, I was not looking for recipes, but I was looking for ideas and techniques. During my internships, I studied how chefs work with products, what techniques they use, how they come up with dishes. I got into Noma and Alinea. Very imbued with Frantzen in Stockholm. It's actually one of the brightest places I've been.

Omnivore Festival

Talking about a local product in Moscow is generally ridiculous, there is no local product here. And I focused on the new kitchen. I was a visitor in Moscow on Omnivore. This whole idea of ​​a new young kitchen is very close to me. Farm products, the search for new techniques, new views on old products.

I showed a master class on this Omnivore in Moscow. Made liquid potatoes with mushrooms. It's like a siphon for coffee - we did the same, only poured potato broth inside, put different types of dried mushrooms into the siphon. They heated it - the potato broth rose, went down, and it turned out to be a liquid potato with mushrooms. I also made hot okroshka - also one of the ideas for kvass soup, only hot. We made homemade bresaola ourselves, the meat component - aged meat, smoked sour cream - a bunch of all sorts of troubles. There were very good reviews. Approached the editor of "Gastronom" Marianna Orlinkova, Alexander Gavrilov, who taught master classes. He said that in three years my performance was one of the brightest. And I say: "God, really?" I was so happy. I thought that I would calmly show a couple of tricks, everyone would say: “Thanks for coming. No wonder they were invited."

Modern Russian cuisine

It seems to me that a person should do what he has a soul for. Everyone must find their own path and follow it. I understood what I want to work with and why I should do it: to work with Russian products, because I am Russian. We make beef with adjika, for example. In fact, in almost all the restaurants where I worked, I made beef with adjika - this is one of my favorite flavor combinations. We cook adjika ourselves, serve it with Chinese black fermented garlic cream. I'm trying to keep a touch of Russian, but bring something else.

I play with Russian cuisine in a modern way. I think that this is the only way it can be represented at the world level. Russian cuisine should now be one that you are not ashamed to show to anyone. It may be completely different, but in my opinion as a chef, Russian cuisine should look like this.

Angus beef tartare with beetroot granita and fresh sorrel from the 22.13 menu

Farm chicken with malt béchamel sauce and 3 hour confit carrots from the 22.13 menu

There is no need to remain only within the framework of Russian ideas and Russian tastes. You can take a Russian product and shade it with something. I like spices, Asian motifs. You need to diversify your tastes. I really love dumplings at Pushkin, but I think we should go further. What Volodya Mukhin does, for example, is just super and a great example. He makes food within the framework of Russian ideas, but he also takes southern cuisine and beats their ideas in a very cool way. He has a concept, he has ideas. Shishkin is constantly looking for some food, he brings it, he made gingerbread from bird cherry flour, pasta from Borodino bread. Each of us presents his own idea, that's right.

There are so many restaurants in Moscow, and every menu has something "farm". And how many people just flaunt this "we have a farm." In fact, they just take frozen. Or, for example, farmer's, but not Russian - farmer's French. We take farm pike perch in LavkaLavka. We know exactly its origin, everything is transparent and can be tracked at any stage.

We do a lot ourselves: we smoke fish ourselves, pickle vegetables, quail eggs. Despite the small menu, we have a lot of blanks. Why buy smoked fish when you can smoke it yourself? Anyone in a professional kitchen can do everything on their own.

There is a boom in some products. Now there is a boom in bird cherry flour. Everyone is like, “Ah, bird cherry flour!” We thought, why not make a sauce for fish and duck out of it. My tasting menu will include duck in a cherry flour sauce with Amaretto flavor. This is quite Russian and at the same time not quite a standard use of bird cherry flour. Trying to look for something and not stop there - this is one of the most correct approaches.

can't build something
interesting and unusual
without giving it all up,
without investing entirely

We have a dessert with birch sap. Here again, about locality - we found a person who collected 300 liters of juice for us and froze it. We found it on Avito.ru - funny and stupid. About this person, it turns out, Channel One filmed a program. We reserved this juice and are gradually buying it - he brings it to us every month.

Birch sap is very sweet and naturally fermented., fermentation. That is, it can be put, and it will ripen until it turns into vinegar. It will be very serious, we have already staged it in burnt wooden stumps, there is such a technique. The juice is kept at a certain temperature. Vinegar will be with the aroma of birch sap and acquire the aroma of wood. But it will take time for it to appear on the menu. For some time, experiments, clarity, and accuracy are taken away.

I want to launch a tasting menu by autumn . Seriously prepare, so that there are dishes, serving, so that these are interesting ideas, what I want to show. To be a reflection of what's in my head. Just started making the first sketches. I want it to be an unforgettable experience for a person. For a person to come, eat and think: “Yes, this is something new for me. I won't try this anywhere else."

Cook's job

The restaurant inside is not the same as outside. Outside, everything is quiet and calm, while in the kitchen there can be exorbitant screams, yelling, pushing. The only thing I understood is that you can’t build something interesting and unusual without giving yourself completely to it, without fully investing. And I realized what I want to do.

You don't always have to show that you can make foamy sauce. or something popping out of the plate. The first thing to talk about is taste. You should be struck by the taste or combination of flavors, and only then everything else.

Salad with sturgeon, baked vegetables and marinated quail eggs from the menu "22.13"
Dessert with sorrel, salty white chocolate, birch sap and fennel from the menu "22.13"

Sometimes you meet chefs who want to show the techniques they know. They don't care if the food tastes good. They know how to froth, and they think it's a modern kitchen, and put these froths everywhere. They make snow, lay out a bunch of flowers. A bunch of flowers, creams, emulsions - they know how to make them, and the taste of vegetables is simply disgusting. Some marinated, others overcooked, no cabbage. You just eat them and think, “God, why are you putting them on a plate at all?” At the same time, they serve a tasting menu for, say, 95 euros. How does your conscience allow you to do this? There are such chefs not only in Europe, there are plenty of them all over the world and, unfortunately, in Russia too.

A lot of people make food sketches, I never do., because I understand that I can’t adequately transfer all this to paper. I can only make some sketches. I played the guitar, I still play for myself. This is a hobby that can distract me, otherwise I constantly drive thoughts about food in my head. You need a hobby that distracts you from these thoughts. You have to step back and empty your head for something new to come. That is what happens most often.

About Moscow colleagues

I have recently been in Moscow and have not had time to meet everyone yet. Isaac Correa was on Omnivore after me. He is an energy man. I visited him yesterday at the Upside Down Cake Company and . I actually got a little upset. This often happens: he is alone and cannot break into all his places. This is a network problem, a problem of large establishments. Shishkin had some time ago, in Delicatessen. At first we wanted to go to Gifts of Nature, but I finish work late. We are friends with Shishkin only in absentia - on Facebook. But I want to get along with everyone. I also ate at White Rabbit - Mukhin is generally well done. He is now one of the most advanced young chefs, I think. One can only rejoice for such people. These are people who promote Russian cuisine.

I really want to call Vanya Shishkin and just sit with him because this person is also simply phenomenal - thoughts, ideas. I want to communicate with everyone, but at the same time, I want to first get everything right here, at 13/22, and find my niche, my guests, who will be interested in eating my food. I think I can find. My cuisine does not scare people away, even in spite of difficult things somewhere, if a person is open to something new.

I bow before
What does Zimin do? He did a great job for
to raise the culture of food

I was at the Barbarians when they first opened. It was great, very tasty. Anatoly Anatolyevich Comm is also super simple. This is the only chef who originally represented us on the world stage. He punched a hole in the wall, and we all started using that hole. It doesn't matter what they say about him - he did a lot and, I think, deserves respect for that.

I would like to establish contact with all the chefs with whom it will be interesting to communicate. On the day of our performance at Omnivore, we arrived at 11 am to make all the preparations. The first were Zimin and Shalev. We didn't get to talk much. I bow to what Zimin does. He did a great job in order to raise the culture of food in Russia and in Moscow in particular. That Zimin gathered everyone in this way, that Akimov - only in part of the farmers.

It's strange that I always expect more from Ragout than they end up giving. When I went there for the first time, out of six courses, four had minced mushrooms. I don't understand why they put it everywhere. I'm not saying it's tasteless. I just don't get it. Either I'm not mature enough, or something else. I never want to offend anyone and do not overestimate myself. It's not up to you to decide who is cooler than you, who is not cooler. You need to find your niche and do business, proving with actions, not talk. But I'm talking about my experience. I went and said: “I didn’t understand” or “It didn’t taste good to me”, “I didn’t understand, I won’t order this dish.” But I will eat carrot soup there. And I can go to the grill bar too.

Photos: Olya Eichenbaum